Mourinho : ' I fear Juventus'

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has high hopes for Juventus in 2013. “They remind me of my Porto side and can win the Champions League.”

The Bianconeri were drawn against Celtic in the Second Round, while Real Madrid will face Manchester United.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t like Juventus because I fear them,” Mourinho told Tuttosport newspaper.

“I say they can win the Champions League. They represent an extremely compact collective, like an almost unsinkable vessel.

“It actually helps them that they lack a ‘top player.’ The fact you don’t see a Juve man at the top of the scorers’ charts just means a goal can come from anywhere. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have a Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain when they are so well-structured.

“This Juve really reminds me of my Porto side in 2004. If someone had forgotten, let me remind them that Porto won the Champions League that year.”

Mou won The Treble with Inter and is now targeting another historic achievement.

“I have declared my objective is to win the Champions League with three different clubs. Nobody has ever managed that before. It would also be the 10th European Cup for Real Madrid, the first side to reach double figures.”

Yet Mourinho has been under pressure in Spain with talks of a potential sacking after falling behind Barcelona in La Liga and benching captain Iker Casillas.

“I reply with a quote from Sir Alex Ferguson: ‘I am too old to retire.’ And, if you’ll allow me this addition, I am also too ‘young’ to retire.”